Psalm 91 14 16 14 Because he has

Psalm 91: 14 -16 – 14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 "With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation. " (NASB)

Amazing Love I’m forgiven because You were forsaken, I’m accepted, You were condemned. I am alive and well, Your Spirit lives within me, Because You died and rose again. Amazing love, how can it be that You, my King, would die for me? Amazing love, I know it’s true. It’s my joy to honor You, in all I do, I honor You.

• • • If you think about it, God’s love for us is amazing! Words cannot do it justice. Amazing is about the best we can do. Why would My God and King die for me? Why would He do anything for me much less die for me? • Because He did, it is my joy to honor and love Him in all I do!

• I have a tendency to want to oversimplify things. • But, the Christian Faith can be summed up by the word relationship. • It is a vertical relationship with our Creator and horizontal relationships we have with each other. • True Christianity isn’t a religion based upon a code of ethics or an endless string of do’s and don’ts. • It is a love relationship with the living Son of God. • It’s that simple!

• What does that have to do with Psalm 91? • Let’s look at verse 14 again: • 14 Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. • The key is Because he has love Me. . . • This is the key to the rest of the Psalm.

• Psalm 91 transitions from 3 rd person to 1 st person. • It is a shift in tone—God is speaking to us directly from His Secret Place. • Remember in School: – 1 st Person = I, We & Us – 2 nd Person = You – 3 rd Person = He, She, & They • The most personal voice is 1 st person.

• • • This shows a love relationship between us & Jesus. This section cannot be easily explained. It has to be experienced. Faith in God is like that, it has to be experienced. I can give you some guidelines, but you have to actually experience it for yourself in order to understand it. • For instance, you can’t fully understand what it means to be in love unless you have been.

• It is similar to a young person asking, How did you know Lisa was the one for you. • Their real question is something like, How will I know when I have met the right one for me? • That is a difficult question to answer, and most of the time I will say, You will just know. • It’s one of those things that is difficult to teach.

• I can give guidelines like: – this person needs to be a committed believer – someone who will challenge you to grow in your relationship with God. • But, you pretty much have to experience it for yourself in order to understand it. • Then, there will not be any explanation necessary.

• True Love has 3 basic principles: 1. Love is your choice. • It is not based on a feeling, but it is a choice or an act of your will. • This is true whether it is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with or Jesus. • You have to choose to love them.

2. Love requires presence and closeness. • To truly love someone or the One, you must have spent time with them. • You need to know them personally and even on a level deeper than a surface relationship. • There has to be some substance there.

3. Love is experienced and not explained. • Just because you have not experienced it, does not mean that it does not exist. • Maybe, you have never experienced God’s love like this, but it doesn’t mean it is not possible. • Seek it and you will find it. • Spiritual Principle: If you seek the Lord, He will be found.

• There are 7 Promises God makes based on our love relationship found in verses 14 -16. • Because he has love me. . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high. I will answer him. I will rescue him. I will honor him. I will satisfy him with a long life. I will let him behold my salvation.

• • Some wonder why they should serve Jesus. Pretty good list of reasons here. Ask yourself: How well do I know God? Most people know about God, but there are those who know God personally. – They know His voice when He speaks. – They have been with Him enough to know what He sounds like when He speaks. – They know what He thinks about a situation.

• My relationship with Lisa – Voice – Opinion • Why? • There’s an intimate, love relationship there. • It is based on time spent with each other.

• The same is true with Jesus. • Ask yourself again: 1. How well do I know Jesus? 2. Do I know His voice when He speaks? 3. Do I know what He is thinking about a matter? • You have to spend time with Him in His Word & in prayer in order to do that.

• This is amazing! • It is amazing that the Lord would even want that kind of relationship with me much less that it is a possibility. • Amazing Love! • Only an encounter with Jesus & time spent with Him will cause us to be able to lay hold of the promises found in verses 14 -16. • The importance of this is that these promises are only for those who possess a genuine love relationship with the Lord.

• Remember when Jesus questioned Peter about his love for Himself? • The scene was the shores of Galilee after Jesus’ resurrection. • Peter had just denied Jesus 3 times even though he had boasted that he would never deny Him. • Even if all the other disciples left Christ, He would never do it! No, not me—never!

• Dejected and demoralized, Peter probably wondered if Jesus could ever forgive him. • Peter was one of His closest friends and he had let the Lord down. • So, he did what he knew best—he went fishing. • Then, the next morning Jesus shows up on the beach frying some fish. • As Peter was watching Jesus fry the fish and wondering is He mad at me? • Jesus breaks the silence with:

• John 21: 15 -17 – 15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love [agape] Me more than these? " "Yes, Lord, " Peter replied, "You know I love [phileo] You. " "Then feed My lambs, " Jesus told him. 16 Jesus repeated the question: "Simon son of John, do you love [agape] Me? " "Yes, Lord, " Peter said, "You know I love [phileo] You. " "Then take care of My sheep, " Jesus said.

• 17 A third time He asked him, "Simon son of John, do you love [phileo] Me? " Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, "Lord, You know everything. You know that I love [phileo] You. " Jesus said, "Then feed My sheep. • Have you ever wondered why Jesus asked Peter that 3 times? • I have, and I think I know the answer.

• How many times did Peter deny Jesus before the rooster had crowed twice? • 3 times! • Could this be Jesus’ way of saying, I know you denied Me, but I still love you and desire to use you. • Jesus could have thrown Peter away like one throws a disposable bottle in the trash. • He could have replaced him with his brother Andrew or one of the other disciples. • He didn’t. He loved Peter and saw potential in him.

• Imagine where the Early Church would have been without Peter? • He was filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and began to preach boldly. • Even in the face of persecution and much opposition, he never gave up. • He kept preaching, healing the sick, raising the dead and being the 1 st to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. • This was all the result of a love relationship with Jesus.

• • • 15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these? " There was one issue that Peter needed to deal with before he could be used by the Lord significantly. Jesus laid His finger on it here. Do you love Me more than these? What does that sound like? Peter’s boasts—Even if all the other disciples scatter, I will not! Not me! Never!

• What was it? • PRIDE! • That’s the amazing thing about being in the presence of the Lord. • He gently points out our blind spots. • Others saw it, but Peter didn’t until the Lord showed him. • Pride is often the hindrance to many people being used by the Lord on a consistent basis. • If you never go to His presence, these issues will not get dealt with.

• 15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these? ” • Another point worth noting is that Jesus used Simon, his real name, instead of Peter. • Peter = rock. • Simon = reed. • Several years earlier, probably in the same spot, Jesus had called Peter and said, Simon, come follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

• It was like Jesus was saying, Let’s start over. I forgive you, and I will put it in the past. Let’s move on. You are valuable and worth salvaging! • How did Peter respond? Life-long commitment! • How can you tell that you really love the Lord? • Obedience! • John 14: 15 – If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (NASB)

• If you really love the Lord, then you will obey Him and do whatever He asks of you. • Why? 2 answers: 1. Amazing Love (His Love) – It is amazing that my King would die for me! • What is the least that I can do? Obey Him and His Word. • There are times when we have to do things that we do not want to do. • We do them because we love Him.

• • Never felt called to be a youth pastor. Did it for 7 years. Why? There was a need, and I was as good as anyone to fill it. • It is easy to obey God doing things we love, but true obedience comes when it costs us something. • Why was I willing to do it?

2. • • • My Love – Why am I obedient to the Lord? Why do I pursue holiness and right living? Do I do it because the church or someone told me I have to live this way? • No, and a 1, 000 times No! • I do it because I love Jesus and want to please Him. • It is based on a love relationship.

• Look at what Jesus told Peter next: • John 21: 18 -19 – 18 "I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. • You did what you wanted to do. • But, there comes a point in our walk with God when we need to mature and be obedient to even do those things that we do not want to do.

• But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go. " 19 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, "Follow Me. " (NLT) • He used a Hebrew idiomatic expression which meant that Peter was going to die a martyr’s death. • Think about what Jesus was saying to Peter. If you follow Me and are obedient to My call on your life, it will end in a martyr’s death! WOW!

• If Jesus said that to you, how would you respond? • The Biblical record clearly shows that Peter faithfully served the Lord until his end. • Church tradition states that Peter did indeed die a martyr’s death. • Peter was led to the place of crucifixion by his wife. • She was weeping that her husband was about to be executed and die a hideous death.

• Peter, however, was not lamenting but rather was rejoicing. • He in fact exhorted his wife to remain strong in the Lord. • And, to remember the example that our Lord Jesus Christ set for us when He went to the cross. • The least he could do was to die for Him. • That was Peter—the rock—talking and not Simon, the reed, who had denied Jesus 3 times!

• Why was Peter so willing to follow Jesus to a martyr’s death? • 2 reasons: 1. Amazing Love (God’s Love) 2. His Love for Jesus • Peter had a love relationship with Jesus and was willing to die for Him. • You don’t die for acquaintances, but you are willing to die for those whom you love.

• Peter never forgot what Jesus had predicted concerning his death (last letter): • Because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. (2 Peter 1: 14, NIV) • He knew this day was coming, yet he did not shrink back from his call because of his love for Jesus. • He was faithful to the Lord’s words, “Follow Me!” • He was obedient to the end.

• The promises in vs. 14 -16 are for those who have a genuine love relationship with Jesus. • Because he has love me. . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high. I will answer him. I will rescue him. I will honor him. I will satisfy him with a long life. I will let him behold my salvation.

• As we look at the times that we are living in and what is ahead of us, these 7 promises are worth claiming. • But, the only condition for them is that we love the Lord. • Because he has loved Me. . . • This would be a good time to examine your own love walk with the Lord.

Amazing love, how can it be That You my King would die for me? Amazing love, I know it's true. It's my joy to honor You in all I do.